Paper Example on Low-Income Earners & Access to Medical Care: A Solution With Medicaid

Introduction

The low-income earners have a problem in accessing medical care since they are expensive and unaffordable for them. With the high cost being charged at the hospitals, some people may choose not to seek medical attention, and they may prefer staying at home. Failing to seek medical attention is bad as it can result in loss of lives (Trochim, 2006). With government program Medicaid, the problem of this problem is to be reduced as the program aims to help the low-income earners have access to medical care at a subsidized price. The move seeks to help children, single mothers, pregnant women, and elders. With the move, the health status has improved as they too can acquire the services that were too expensive for them before the intervention from the government.

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Overview

Medicaid is a government insurance program targeting people of various ages who have insufficient income, and it helps them in paying for their medical fees. Medicaid program is crucial as it helps people with minimal income have access to medical care as, without it, they could fail to access the services. The program was developed to help people with difficulties in accessing medical care and to help them have access (Jackson & Waters, 2005).

Stakeholders

The stakeholders of the Medicaid are the people with low income as they get to benefit from the program. Low-income earners often have difficulties in paying medical fees; the intervention from the government is key as it helps them pay minimal fees while they can access the services (Jackson & Waters, 2005). Low-Income earners can also have the opportunity to access medical care since it is cheaper and affordable. With the program, they will get help and be motivated to look for help whenever they need it.

Evaluation

Process evaluation entails monitoring the extent to which the implementation while comparing it to the original project. The evaluation is key in providing feedback on the nature of the intervention (Berlowitz & Graco, 2010). After the introduction of Medicaid, the majority if the low-income group has benefited since they can get the opportunity of accessing Medicare. Before Medicaid, the low-income earners rarely had the opportunity of having access to healthcare, they were affected, and they had infections. Children were the most affected as they have a lower immune system (Akerman et al., 2007). After the introduction of Medicaid, they got the opportunity of accessing medical care at a lower cost, and this lead to the improvement of the health of the citizens. People were healthy as they could easily be treated at a lower rate. The infections among children reduced as the communicable diseases were treated earlier before it could spread and contaminate other children. The overall health of children generally improved as their parents could take them to hospitals whenever they contacted an infection (Akerman et al., 2007). Medicaid played a major role in reducing the death rate since the spread of infection was minimized before it could spread. Treatment of infection was also effective in preventing the death of people, especially those from low-income earners. With Medicaid, the children got the opportunity to be vaccinated against various diseases that can be deadly. Vaccination is crucial in controlling the spread of diseases that are communicable and lethal. With vaccination infections like measles and leprosy can be eliminated.

Social, Political and Cultural Consideration in Evaluating Medicaid Program

The social consideration to be made includes whether or not the low-income earners can access medical care (Jackson & Waters, 2005). Majority of them cannot afford the medical care, and with the program, they will benefit. Specific members from the group are targeted, and this involves the elderly, physically handicapped, children, single mothers, and pregnant women. With the help, they can benefit since they will be charged a subsidized fee. The goal of the project is to assist them due to their status.

The political consideration in place is deciding whether the project is affordable (Jackson & Waters, 2005). Affording this kind of project is expensive, and it requires money to be pumped in, the first estimation of the expected value to be incurred is done. The government can later budget for the project and measure if it is feasible or not. If the project will benefit people, then it is undertaken. The other political consideration is whether the project is beneficial. If it benefits most people, then it will be undertaken (Jackson & Waters, 2005). The project helps a lot of people, and it was one of the reasons why the project was launched. The main aim of the government is to improve the status of the country and to improve the health of its citizen is a priority. With the project, the health of the low-income earners will improve as they will get the opportunity to access Medicare, which they could barely afford them before the Medicaid program.

Cultural conditions that can be considered is the beliefs of some members. Some culture opposes the vaccination of children, and this affects the Medicaid, which its main goal is to improve life expectancy and enable every member of the society to have access to medical care (Trochim, 2006). With the kind of belief, the lives of children can be affected, and they are likely to die if there is an outbreak of disease they failed to be vaccinated. To eliminate this belief, people have been educated the importance of the vaccines, and this made some positive changes as the cases have significantly dropped (Akerman et al., 2007).

Barriers in Finding Resources and Conducting an Evaluation

The barrier affecting Medicaid is that some people have not enrolled in it despite being eligible for enrollment (Berlowitz & Graco, 2010). Children are those being affected as their parents have failed to enroll them for the problem, and this partly blamed due to lack of information about the program. With no information, parents have failed to enroll their children, and this can lead to the spread of diseases which could have been prevented and controlled with the insurance cover. It is important to address the barriers of Medicaid enrollment as it will help in the prevention of acute diseases in the early life of children.

The other barrier is unpredicted results; Medicaid was designed to help the low-income earners specifically. Irrespective of the results achieved it does not serve all members of the low-income earners. The program serves the elderly, the disabled, pregnant women, and single women (Berlowitz & Graco, 2010). The other members of the low-income earners who are not included in the list may suffer due to their inability to afford the fees being charged. The program only benefits a portion of the group, and the other members suffer as a result.

Evaluation Activities

The Medicaid program has greatly helped low-income earners access medical care at a discounted rate (Nabors, Iobst, & McGrady, 2007). With the help, the number of low-income earners accessing medical care has increased as they can afford the services provided. The life expectancy has also improved as the medical care is affordable due to the subsidized fees.

Conclusion

Medicaid has been essential in ensuring access to medical care is possible not only to those who can afford but also to those who may fail to afford it. Since its introduction, it has been effective in helping people who are low-income earners be able to access Medicare at a cheaper rate. With the program, life expectancy is expected to rise since the medical assistance seeks to help those who cannot access the services, and this will lead to saving of lives which could have been lost as a result if failing to seek medical attention.

References

Abbatangelo, Gray, J., Cole, G. E., & Kennedy, M. G. (2007, Sep.). Guidance for Evaluating Mass. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0163278707304041

Communication Health Initiatives: Summary of an Expert Panel Discussion Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 30(3), 229-253. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0163278707304041

Akerman, M., Arroyo, H., Jones, C. M., O'Neill, M. et al. (2007). Evaluation of health promotion effectiveness: a political debate and a technical exercise? Promotion & Education, Suppl. 1, 13-15.Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0163278707304041

Berlowitz, D. J., & Graco, M. (2010). The development of a streamlined, coordinated, and sustainable evaluation methodology for a diverse chronic disease management program. Australian Health Review, 34(2), 148-152. Retrieved from http://www.publish.csiro.au/AH/AH08689

Jackson, N., & Waters, E. (2005, Dec.). Criteria for the systematic review of health promotion and public health interventions. Health Promotion International, 20(4), 367-374. Retrieved from http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/4/367.full.pdf+html.

Nabors, L., Iobst, E. A., & McGrady, M. E. (2007). Evaluation of school-based smoking prevention programs. The Journal of school health, 77(6), 331. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/openview/2b2c2efb5420c14c69d5a397590db6f4/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2368

Trochim, W. K. (2006). An evaluation culture. Retrieved from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/evalcult.php